Floral Hello

Hey there! So, I really didn’t have plans to post this week – my workload is kind of heavy this week, but I didn’t want to leave y’all hanging, so I’m pulling from the archives! Have you’ve ever been in the mall and wondered who dressed the mannequins, did the window displays, and merchandising? Well, people like me. Anyway, enough of that, let’s get to the card!

This is a card I made a while back when I just needed to get something out of my system:

My goal here to make a clean and graphic card. I used what is probably my favorite set ever, Rosie Posie. And, I finally used the Quatrefoil background stamp that I picked up at Hob Lob.

I have standard, top fold A2 base made from True Black. Not something I use often, but this is what popped in my head at the time. The card front is Rustic Cream as are all of the flower die cuts. I stamped the large roses with Real Red ink by Stampin’ Up. The buds and quatrefoil were stamped in Fountain Pen by Jenni Bowlin. I used the Rosie Posie leaves for the die cuts, but I also stamped a different leaf from a Studio G set that I got from Wal-Mart last year. I don’t buy the inexpensive stamps anymore, but I love the leaves in that set. I stamped them using Lucky Limeade ink. Also, the shading you see on the blooms, I did that with a Real Red Stampin’ Write Marker.

I tied a bow using red saddle stitch from Hob Lob. I use this quite a bit – mainly because I love having a pop of color, especially red, but also so that I can order some from Papertrey. I just prefer their ribbon over most others.

I stamped a sentiment from Fillable Frames #1 onto a scrap of True Black and trimmed it with my pinking shears. I highly recommend a pair. I got mine when I worked for Jo-Ann, but they were not expensive at all. I keep telling myself that I need to get another pair to dedicate to ribbon and fabric. And I am convinced that I was a Southern Belle or something in a former life, because I am addicted to pearls! That being the case, I tucked some Melissa Frances pearls in my bouquet of flowers.

I finished the card off with a spritz of Mister Huey Calico Shine from Studio Calico.

As always, I thank you for stopping by! I hope to find some time to create this week, as I have a LOT of ideas that I want to share. Plus, I’ll be working on something special with a dear friend of mine, I’m just waiting on my goodies to come in. Also, the My Creative Time team is giving you all peaks into the different techniques that we use, and the first group started today! You can check that out here. My turn hasn’t come yet, so if there is something I do that you would like to see, LET ME KNOW! I’ve been pricing video cameras, so there are tutorials coming. One reason I stopped was I didn’t like that my camera picked up the noise from itself when I recorded. Anyway, leave a comment below this post, or feel free to email me. Okay, I’ve gone on enough! Have a blessed day!

Tree-mendous Wishes

It’s beginning to look a lot like . . . summer. Cause I live in Alabama and it’s hotter than a box of firecrackers on the Fourth of July. Anyway, I welcome you on this great Wednesday!

I have a quick Christmas card to share with you today. I was trying to make it vintage, yet fun.

For today’s card, I wanted to incorporate a little more stamping –because that’s what I mainly consider myself to be these days, a stamper. And, one of my favorite things to do is stamp onto die cuts. In this case, Cricut cuts. I stamped on the lighter green cut with my Just Jeans stamp from Stampin’ Up.

I totally winged this card. With the exception of the Kraft base an the Christmas tree cut from Winter Frolic, the rest just kind of came to me as I was creating. Just to let you all know where I was going, the Christmas tree is basically a vintage pin. At least that’s what I’m telling myself. When I cut the tree, the little circle that are meant to be balls were incredibly tiny. But no matter, I grabbed my Melissa Frances pearls and colored a few with my markers, problem solved. A little Crystal Stickles and my little tree was complete. The button card stamp is from Button Boutique and I stamped it with Real Red ink.

Standard card base, no need for reinventing the wheel today. Continuing the theme, of the week, my pattern papers are from the Echo Park Merry Christmas Collection. The green polka dot measured 4” x 3,” and the stripe is 4” x 2.25.” Adhered them with a small amount of ATG – just enough in the center so they won’t shift while sewing. By the way, I use Coats & Clark thread for all of my sewing. While I had my machine out, I stitched some lace over the seam where the papers met.

Once I added the lace, I figured I might as well keep with the fabric/texture theme, so I stitched some burlap with Liz’s Boutique onto a scrap of Vintage Cream cardstock. Initially, I was going to distress the edges, but I decided to trim it with my pinking shears to match the little paper sack I used. Which reminds me . . .  Before I stitched the burlap, I used Background Basics: Houndstooth to stamp on a Canvas Corp bag. I used Stampin’ Up’s Soft Suede ink. Words cannot describe how much I love that color. Love it. I know some of you are thinking, Trell, it’s just brown. Errr, no it’s not, so there!

From there I tied a bow with some red seam binding, because everything is better with a bow. I adhered the bag and the button card to the card with red line tape. I have found that I like to use it because it has such a strong hold. Anyway, I stamped my sentiment from My Creative Time’s newest sets, It’s a Magical Season, onto a negative from a frame that I kept. I know it’s on Elegant Edges. The main cut is a postage note frame.

To finish it off, I inserted a corsage pin into the bow, and inked around the card with Antique Linen Distress ink and a little Soft Suede.

Thanks for stopping by and leaving such wonderful comments. Have a blessed day!

Joy

Hello crafty peeps! So, you’re in for a treat this week, because I am guesting on the Everyday Cricut blog! That’s right, every single day. Before I get into my project for today, I want to thank Joy and Melanie for having me, it’s an honor.

I think most people that read my blog, know that I am a cardmaker. That’s my passion, but would it surprise you all that I did something, “off the page,” to kick off the week?

Joy to the world . . . Kidding, I have a terrible singing voice. But, this makes me want to sing! I wanted to offer some ideas for the upcoming holiday season, and banners are great décor items. I opted to keep it simple and small, but if have a mantle, why not go all out?

The inspiration for this came from the Fontopia Art Cartridge. When I looked through the handbook, I knew I wanted to make a banner with the letters. I just love the typography. But, I digress! I’ll walk you through the process, it was really easy, and I worked on it for a few days (I have this job . . . I know, ugh. Joking, I love it.), but it really wouldn’t take long to do in one sitting.

I woke up my Imagine from a deep slumber, and printed out three patterns from the Teresa Collins Black & White Pattern Cartridge. Because everyone loves a visual, I took a picture of the patterns I printed:

I am a big fan of options. Know what I’m saying? In the end, I went for the sheet music because I think it conveyed Christmas the most; to me, anyway. Also, as you can see, I printed on Kraft cardstock and it came from Jo-Ann. I think I spent more time deciding on and printing patterns,  than anything else during the making of this. Trell’s creative method is to sit and stare at the paper. It works though!

I sized my cuts and everything with my Gypsy. I have the file for those that want it. And, I might even make a Craft Room file. I used Birthday Bash for the pennant cuts.

I am a man of few embellishments. Don’t get me wrong, I love them, but I can’t afford to buy everything under the sun, so I tend to concentrate on a few. I will sing the praises of paper doilies. I love them and you will see them again this week, I’m sure of it. They’re cheap, and we all have at least one place where we can find them. Anyway, I used my Antique Linen and Vintage Photo Distress Inks to age the pennants and doilies. I then adhered them with some Tombo Mono Multi. I punched a scallop border strip from cream cardstock and adhered them to the bottom of the pennants. And, I added a little trim to the top of the pennants.

In this case, I also use paper as an embellie. I make my own rosettes with my score board. I measured my the width of my pennant, and I deduced that my rosettes should be 3 inches. So, I cut my patterned paper, from the Echo Park Merry Christmas collection, to 1.5” x 12.” Inked them and adhered them with my hot glue gun. I find it to be the fastest and best adhesive for rosettes. I adhered them to the pennants with hot glue as well.

Next up were the letters, I cut out three of each letter because I wanted them to be like a lightweight chipboard. I adhered them all together and sprayed them with Krylon Spray Adhesive. I then coated them with Melissa Frances Glass Glitter. I got that, and the Melissa Frances Pom-Pom trim from Liz’s Paperloft Boutique. I like spray adhesive because it cuts down the drying time, and it holds glitter very well. I also adhered the letters with hot glue. In the center of the O, I used my small star punch to cover the center of the rosette.

Lastly, I used some twine from Liz’s Paperloft to tie some loose double bows and connect them. Little extra nugget, eyelets would have been great, but I didn’t have any! I finished it off by tying some double bows with some ribbon I picked up from Hob Lob eons and eons ago.

Welp, sorry for the super looong post, but I like to leave no detail spared! Thanks for stopping by, have an amazingly blessed day!

MCT August Release Blog Hop!

Hello again crafty peeps! I want to welcome you from wherever you came, but I hope you hopped here from Tracy’s wonderful blog. If not, start here.

I was assigned the 3” x 3” card and envelope for the hop, and I decided that instead of reinventing the wheel, I would keep it short and sweet. I think that is the point of a note card anyway. And, once again, I used vellum for my envelope, but I like it, so there! (Imagine me sticking my tongue out like a little kid . . .)

I know that we all get really busy during the last few months of the year, and most of us are cardmakers, right? So, I figure, take a few hours and diecut a few of these little beauties and have them on hand for the upcoming holiday season.

Now, I will admit that I might have went a bit overboard with the bling and pearls, but they were cheap coughdollarbincoughcough. And just because I love the Melissa Frances pearls, I couldn’t stop at one!

The snowflakes are element stickers from the old Echo Park Merry Christmas collection. Confession, I haven’t purchased Christmas paper for the year yet. But, I like to use what I have, and what better way, that to embellish a quick card?

Before I forget, I diecut the card from Rustic Cream cardstock. My personal advice is to keep these light, you don’t want to have to put a layer on the inside. I feel like the Rustic Cream satisfies my need to give it a homespun feel without using Kraft cardstock.

My sentiment is from Gift Card Sentiments. If you don’t have this one, you need it. I use it all the time – it has a special place on my work table, along with a few other sets. I stamped it with my favorite red ink, Stampin’ Up’s Real Red. I opted to finish it with a silk ribbon bow, but I don’t think it is absolutely necessary.

BLOG HOP GIVEWAY ALERT

For our Blog hop giveaway, there will be 2 winners chosen from ALL the comments combined!  The 1st prize is: A guest design spot for our next release in Sept & the 2nd prize is you can pick $50 worth of products from the "My Creative Time" store! All you have to do is leave a comment here along w/the rest of the design team's blogs AND also leave a way for us to contact you!  Emma will use random.org to pick the lucky winners!  All you have to do is leave a comment on all blogs in this hop for more chances to win! The deadline is Sunday, August 19th at midnight! EASY PEASY!!! GOOD LUCK!:)

Blog Hop Line Up

Emma

Amy

Cassandra

Cathryn

Cindy B.

Glora

Jeanne

Katie

Kim

Leanne

Liz

Micia

Nancy

Nikki

Ruthie

Shar

Tracy

Trell (You’re here!)

Veronica

Before I let you go, I want to invite you all back next week. I’ll have more Holiday (both Halloween & Christmas) themed projects that you don’t want to miss! I even have a 3D project!

Thanks for you coming by and leaving such awesome comments, I love reading them. Have a blessed weekend!

Papertrey Ink July Blog Hop

Okay, so I haven’t posted a card in ages. Basically, I’ve been quite the worker bee and I also might have had a fire in the backyard during the first week of the month that burned my cable lines. So yeah, but no matter, I have a card I quickly made once I got home from work today!!

I was finally able to order the dies that coordinate with Pretty Peonies, and I cannot be happier. I have said this before, but I am not a good fussy cutter. I also ordered like 4 new stamp sets! Might not sound like a lot, but homeboy here is on a budget and I can’t drop major dollars at Papertrey every month. I digress!

I trimmed a piece of Rustic Cream, which I am in love with, I cannot stress that enough, to 3.75” x 5.” I started off by stamping the solid peony from Pretty Peonies with Cameo Coral and Calypso Coral inks from Stampin’ Up. The yellow peony was stamped with Chamomile Fresh Ink from Impress.

Next, I stamped the largest leaf cluster from The Sweet Life with Lucky Limeade ink. I then went back in with the small cluster to fill in, but I did some stamping off and generational stamping to give my pattern more dimension and depth.

My third step was to use the medallion building stamps from Lovely Layers. I guess I should have mentioned this earlier, but I was kind of going for a vintage fabric kind of look. Anyway, I stamped the medallion with Mango and Chamomile from Impress, and Calypso Coral. After that I used the two small flower images from the Strawberry Patch set to fill in.

I don’t know if this shows up in the pictures, but my the last thing I did was stamp the entire background with my Stampin’ Up Just Jeans background stamp. I inked it with Antique Linen Distress ink just to give it the slightest bit of texture, and to again, bring out that fabric look. I inked the edges with more Antique Linen and a little Tea Dye. I used my edge distresser tool to roughen up the edges and then I crumpled it up into a ball a few times. It’s all about texture people!

The rest of the card came together pretty easily. I attached my stamped background to a Kraft card base. I took it to my sewing machine and by the Grace of God, I had brown thread in my machine, so I went with it.

I diecut the frame from Lemon Tart cardstock and the butterfly from Kraft. I then ran the butterfly back through my machine with the woodgrain impression plate. I tied a bow with some Berry Sorbet grosgrain and adhered the frame and butterfly with dimensional adhesive. I embellished the butterfly with my Melissa Frances pearls, because I just can’t help myself, and that is was it.

Thanks for stopping by and I wish you all a blessed day!